We Upgraded To A State-of-the-art Wireless Access Point Yet Our Internet Speed Didn’t Changed. This is Why
In the realm of networking, the technologies used for WANs and Internet access differ significantly from those for LANs and backbones. WAN speeds are generally much slower and more costly. Typical WAN circuit speeds range from 11 Mbps to 50 Mbps, which is over 100 times slower than backbone network speeds( which often operate at speeds of 100 Gbps (gigabits per second) or higher. For instance, advancements in optical transport networks have introduced 400G (400 Gbps).
Consequently, the bottleneck in most enterprise networks is often the WAN and Internet, not the enterprise campus network.
This situation is similar in residential settings. Most wireless LAN access points available today e.g Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and Wi-Fi 6E, can support much higher speeds, often exceeding 1 Gbps, yet typical Internet connections are often under 25 Mbps for rural areas although many internet service providers offer plans with significantly higher speeds, often starting at 50 Mbps or more, with common offerings ranging from 100 Mbps to several gigabits per second in urban areas.
This means that regardless of whether you purchase a state-of-the-art wireless access point or an older model offering only 50 Mbps, your Internet experience will remain unchanged due to the bottleneck being the Internet connection itself. Unless you’re investing in a high-speed Internet plan, it’s unnecessary to spend extra on a high-speed wireless access point.
I hope this brief explanation helps you make the right decision for your home or office.
